Maruti Suzuki Dzire special edition
Fully accessorized Maruti Suzuki Dzire (representational image)IBTimes IN
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is investigating charges that top car maker Maruti forced its dealers to limit the discounts they offer to customers, Reuters has reported citing sources.
 
The CCI has been reviewing the allegations against Maruti for about 10 months, the sources told the agency. It's not clear during which years the alleged malpractice happened.

Maruti Suzuki and the CCI have not respond to questions on the development.

The charge against India's largest automaker is that it controlled the dealer discounts in such a way that end customers did not benefit as much as they would have in the absence of the company's active tweaking of the discount policy. The CCI hasn't made the final call on whether charges should be framed against Maruti, the report added.

'Customers left with fewer options'

Under Indian laws, carmakers aren't allowed to resort to the practice known as "resale price maintenance", under which limits are enforced on the discounts dealerships can offer to customers. The Indian anti-competition watchdog maintains that any stipulation that causes "appreciable adverse effect on competition' is unlawful, the report says.

The CCI had fined Hyundai $12.5 million after it found that the India operations had violated the resale price maintenance norms and placed cap on dealer discounts.

"Maruti has the market power, if such a big player restricts discounts of dealers, customers are left with fewer options," an unnamed antitrust official told the agency.